VEA is a pretty hard magazine to find copies of these days. Vea ran in the 1940s and 1950s, and when you figure in acid-based paper, climate and censorship, you’ll know why they don’t turn up often. Do not confuse it with Vea the Puerto Rican gossip magazine, or Vea which came from Chile. Search hard and you will see a few issues on Fred Seibert’s flickr stream, but that’s about it. I found a handful to purchase recently, and I wish I had them all. If I were opening a Mexican restaurant, I’d cover the walls with them. Under glass.

VEA was a weekly pulp periodical which ran for years but was apparently often in trouble with the law, largely due to Niuglo’s spicy muchachas. The magazine was a menudo of news, bullfighting reports, pulp fiction (with illustrations that look like Charles Burns on peyote) and breasts, which is where Nuiglo comes in. There is really nothing to compare the magazine to in the states then or now, but it was similar to the Folies De Paris et de Holllywood magazine from France which was running the same time. Some of the Harrison mags like Whisper maybe. Large format, large on style and striking today.

Flipping through them makes me think it is time for a 1950s Mexican revival. The best reason to find some VEA is the pioneer Mexican fashion and glamour photographer known only (but not known WELL) as NIUGLO. Niuglo’s photos were so good they often graced front and back cover simultaneous in vibrant candy colors, but the ones inside were printed in burnt sienna brown. There was frontal nudity, a considerable amount…but nothing below the waist.